Fuel pressure regulator



June 4, 1957 F. J. WARNER ETA]. 2,794,321

FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR Filed Aug. 5, 1954 1 N V EN TJRS FRED J. WARNERATTORNEY United States Fatent 2,794,321 FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR Fred. 1.Warner, Oklahoma City, and William H. Easton and Bert S. Davenport,Stillwater, Okla.

Application August 5, 1954, SerialNo. 448,069 4 Claims. (Cl. 62-1) Thisinvention relates to improvements in pressure regulators and moreparticularly, but not: by way of limitation, to an apparatus forreducing and regulating the pressure of, liquefied petroleum :g-ases,such as propane, butane and the like, utilized as a fuel mediaforinternal combustion engines.

In the use of liquefiedpetroluem gases, such as propane, butane and likevolatile fluids as a fuelmedia for internal combustion engines, the highpressure liquefied gas must be reduced in pressure and vaporized beforeit is discharged for use into the engine manifold. The premnt inventionis generally concerned with a high pressure regulator and vaporizercombined in one unit. which reduces the fuel pressure. from the supplytank pressure to an intermediate pressure and converts the intermediatepressure fuel into vapor form into suchvolumes as may he demanded by acarburetor apparatus.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a high pressurevapor fuel regulator for the. complete vaporization of liquefiedpetroleum gases and delivery of the vaporized pressure for use with aretor apparatus.

And still another object of this invention is to provide a high pressureregulator and vaporizer adapted to reduce the pressure and vaporize theliquid for insuringa constant supply of the volatile fuel at a reducedpressure for discharge into an engine manifold.

And still another object of this invention is to provide a high pressureregulator for reducing the pressure of liquefied. petroleum gases inwhich all operating valves of the regulator are constructed to openagainst all incoming fuel pressure in order to provide a safety featureagainst spring breakage so that the valves will immediately closeto-prevent fiow of fuel into the regulator.

And still another object of this. invention is toprovide ahigh pressureregulator and vaporizer for reducing the pressure of liquefied petroleumgases for use with internal combustion engines which provides aplurality of spiral passagesways affording an elongated travel for thefuel in order to obtain a complete vaporization at low operatingtemperatures.

And still another object of this invention is to provide a fuelregulatorand vaporizer having independent fuel and heat exchange spiralpassageways with no direct connection therebetween, and which areconstructed to substantially eliminate all leakage problems within theregulator.

And still another object of this invention isto provide a gaseous fuelregulator and vaporizer having independent heat exchange and fuelpassageways disposed spirally therein in a manner to provide eitherparallel or counter flow of the fluids flowing therein as desired.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from thefollowing detailed description, read in c'onfrmction with theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention.

low pressure regulator of a carbugas at a relatively constanttemperature and l In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevational. view of the improved high pressureregulator and vaporizer.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the regulatora portion of thecover plate removed as shown along lines 2-2 for the purpose of clarity.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the high pressure regulator ispreferably (but not limited thereto) adapted to be utilized withacarburetor apparatus of an internal combustion engine (not shown). Theregulator 2- com-. prises a manifold unit 4 of substantially circularconfiguration and the manifold is provided with a plurality of spirallyarranged passageways 6 and. 8. The central portion of the manifold 4 isprovided with a. central bore 10 (Fig. 1) having a portion 12 of largerdiameter communicating with a smaller diametered portion 14. A bossmember 16 extends into the bore 10 and is provided. with a recessedportion 18 for a purpose as will be hereinafter: setv forth. A coverplate 20 is secured by any suitable means (not shown) to the front face22 of the manifold 4, such as a threaded stud (not shown) disposed inthe circumferentially spaced recesses 25. In similar manner, a rearcover plate 24 is secured by any suitable means (not shown) to the rearface 26 of the manifold 4. As shown in Fig. 1, the cover plate 20 isprovided with a centrally disposed boss 28 having a threaded aperture 30adapted to receive an adjusting nut 32 for a purpose as will behereinafter set forth.

The recess 18 is provided with a threaded portion 34 for receiving thethreaded shank 36 of a manifold member 38. The member 38 is providedwith a central bore or passageway 40 communicating with diametricallyopposed passageways 42. An apertured valve stem holder 44 is disposed ina portion of the central bore 44)- and receives a valve stem 46 having-a high pressure regulator or reducing valve 48 carried at one endthereof. A. helical spring 50 is anchored between the lower face of thevalve 48 and the bottom of the recess 18.

A diaphragm 52 is anchored between the front face 22 and the cover plate20 in any suitable manner (not. shown). The diaphragm carries adiaphragm button .54 cooperating with a dampener unit 56 disposed in arecess 58- of the adjusting nut 32. A helical spring 60 is anchoredagainst one face of the button 54 and the bottom of the nut recess 58for a purpose as will be hereinafter set forth.

The cover plate 20 is provided with a plurality (atlieast two as shown)of threaded apertures 62 and 64 communicating with the spiralpassageways 8, and the ports. 62 and 64 are utilized as inlet ports forthe introduction of any suitable engine coolant or the like (not shown):into the. high pressure regulator. It will be apparent that a coolantliquid may be introduced in either of the: aper tures 62 and 64 with oneacting as an inlet port and the. other as a discharge port andcooperating with suitableconnecting conduits (not shown). The highpressure fuel from a suitable storage tank (not shown) is dis.- chargedinto the high pressure regulator through an inlet nipple 65communicating with the recess chamber 18: through any suitablepassageway (not shown) for dis.- charge across the valve 48 when in openposition from its seat 66' as shown in Fig. 1.

Operation The high pressure. liquid fuel discharging into the cham.

charging the vaporized fuel at the reducedpressure for use with thecarburetor apparatus of an internal combustion engine (not shown).

The spiral passageways 6 for the vaporized fuel are machined or castspirally into the back side 26 ofthe manifold 4 and provide an elongatedtravel of the gaseous fuel after a reduction of the pressure by thevalve 48. The state of the fuel passing through the regulator is usuallythat of Wet vapor at a reduced pressure and temperature, and theelongated travel of the fuel in the passageway 6 will afford asufiicient wetted surface permitting vaporization of the fuel even atlow operating temperatures. 'In a similar manner, the spiral passageways8 are separately machined or cast into the front face of the manifold 4,and as noted,'the passageways 8 are interposed between the passageways 6and are in communication with the threaded inlets 62 and 64 forreceiving a coolant liquid from any suitable source. 7

It will be apparent the coolant passageways 8 are arranged so thateither parallel or counter flow may be obtained by' selective use of oneof the inlet apertures 62 and 64 as desired. In using engine coolant asa heating medium in the passageways 8, it will be apparent that when thecoolant and the fuel flow are parallel, or in the same direction, thehottest engine coolant would be in contact with the coldest fuel andwill not provide as large temperature differential between hot enginecoolant and cold vaporized fuel as could be obtained by providing flowof the coolant and fuel in opposite directions, or a counter flowthrough their respective passageways. It has been found that thevaporizer capacity may be varied as much as fifteen to twenty percent bychanging direction of coolant flow through the vaporizer.

' The spiral passageways 6 are sealed by the back cover plate 24 and insimilar manner, spiral passageways 8 are sealed by the front cover 20.The sealing of both plates may be accomplished by any suitable meansproviding a leak proof arrangement. The coolant passageways 8 areinterposed or located between the fuel passageways 6 so as to offer aminimum resistance to heat flow between the fuel and the large heattransfer surface provided by the elongated travel prevents anaccumulation of any large quantity of liquid fuel in passageways 6 whichupon vaporization could cause a rise in the pressure if there was asudden stoppage of fuel flow. Furthermore, the arrangement of theindependent spiral passageways is such that there is no direct passagefrom the fuel to the coolant liquid, thereby overcoming many sealingproblems usually present in regulators of this type.

Alluding further to the valve 48, it will be noted that the valve stem46 is not connected to the valve diaphragm 52 and utilizes the returnspring 50 to assist in closing the valve when the difference of pressurethereacross permits such closing. The inlet fuel discharging into thehigh pressure regulator and past the valve at high velocity is preventedfrom pinging upon the diaphragm 52 by a deflector plate 72 carried byone end of the manifold 38. To moderate any chattering characteristicsthat may be present in the valve 48, the valve dampener 56 is utilizedand operates on the principal of an inertia dampener. The value of theregulated pressure may be predetermined by adjustment of the nut 32co-operating with the spring 60 From the foregoing, it will be apparentthat the present invention provides a high pressure regulator forliquefied petroleum gases, such as butane, propane and the like, thatwill reduce the pressure of such gases for vaporization that may be usedas a motor fuel with an internal combustion engine or the like. In thepresent invention, the pressure regulator reduces the fuel pressure andpassage through a unitary manifold having a plurality of elongatedspiral passageways providing a more efficient and complete vaporizationof the fuel discharging therethrough. Furthermore, the manifold providesindependent passageways for both the fuel and any heat exchange liquidcooperating therewith, wherein both individual spiral passageways areconstructed so as to face opposite sides of the manifold and therebysubstantially eliminate any leakage problem of fuel into the coolant.The passageways are constructed in a manner to aiford selective parallelor countercurrent flow of the heat exchange fluid relative to the fueldischarging therethrough as is desired.

Changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts asheretofore set forth in the specification and shown in the drawings, itbeing understood that any modification in the precise embodiment of theinvention may be made within the scope of the following claims withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a pressure regulator and vaporizer for high pressure gaseous fuelscomprising a substantially circular unitary manifold structure, saidpressure regulator having a pressure controlling flow valve, meanssupplying high pressure fluid to one side of the valve, a valveopera-ting diaphragm operable at a predetermined pressure to maintainthe valve in open position for discharge of high pressure fluid throughthe valve for reduction of pressure thereof, spiral passagewayscommunicating with one side of the valve for receiving the fluid at thereduced pressure and discharging it through the regulator in anelongated path, outlet means for the fluid from the regulator, a secondset of spiral passageways interposed between the first set of spiralpassageways in the regulator whereby the individual passageways of saidsecond set are interposed between the passageways of said first spiralpassageway, said second set of spiral passageways adapted to receive anenginecoolant providing heat exchange for the fluid discharging in thefirst set of spiral passageways.

2. In a pressure regulator and vaporizer for high pressure gaseous fuelscomprising :a substantially circular manifold structure, a central boreprovided in the manifold, a pressure control valve disposed in the bore,means for discharging inlet fuel past the control valve for reducing thepressure thereof, a plurality of spiral passageways communicating withthe reduced pressure fuel and discharging the fuel through the regulatorin an elongated path, said passageways having open ends thereforprovided on one face of the manifold, a cover plate for the manifoldsealing the open ends of the passageways, a second set of spiralpassageways provided in the manifold and interposed between the firstset of spiral passageways, said second set of spiral passageways havingopen ends provided on an opposite face of the manifold from that of thefirst mentioned face, said second set of passageways adapted to receivea liquid providing heat exchange in an elongated path complementary tothe first set of spiral passageways, and means for inlet and dischargeof the heat exchange liquid providing selective parallel or counter flowof the heat exchange liquid relative to the fuel.

3. In a pressure regulator and vaporizer for high pressure gaseous fuelscomprising a substantially circular manifold structure, fuel inletmeans, a pressure control valve disposed in the manifold for reducingthe inlet fuel pressure, a plurality of spiral passageways communicatingwith the reduced pressure fuel and directing the fuel through theregulator in an elongated path, said passageways having open endstherefor provided on one face of the manifold, a cover plate for themanifold sealing the open ends of the passageways, a second set ofspiral passageways provided in the manifold independent from the firstset of spiral passageways, said second set of spiral passageways havingopen ends provided on a face of the manifold opposite from that of thefirst mentioned face, a cover plate sealing the open ends of the secondset of passageways, said second set of passageways adapted to receive aliquid providing heat exchange for the fuel and directing the liquidinan elongated path complementary to'the first set of spiral passagewaysfor the fuel.

4. In a pressure regulator and vaporizer for high pressure gaseous fuelscomprising a substantially circular unitary manifold structure, .apressure reduction valve disposed therein for reducing the pressure ofthe fuel passing therethrough, a plurality of spiral passagewaysprovided in the manifold and arranged in radial spaced relationship witheach other, one set of said passageways formed from one face of themanifold unit, a second set of said passageways formed from the oppositeface of the manifold rom that of the first mentioned face, meansproviding communication between the reduced fuel and at least one set ofsaid passageways means for sealing both sets of passageways, said secondset of spiral passageways interposed and independent from the first setof passageways, said passageways each adapted to receive a fluiddirected therethrough in an elongated path, and means for separatedischarge of the fluids from the passageways.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,081,678 Rosenhlad May 25, 1937 2,248,222 Ensign July 8, 1941 2,272,341Holzapfel Feb. 10, 1942 2,475,087 Ensign et al July 5, 1949 2,731,801Reed Jan. 24, 1956

